Wisconsin Pinball

Who has worked on a pin as old as the 1930's? I have repaired plenty of EM all the way up to the 2000's Sterns. Never something that old. I think Tully has.
A friend of the family is asking me to take a look at one. Just looking to find out more about that era. I can't imagine its too complicated.

I have a Baby Leland from 1933. It's pretty simple in design. There are some though that can be very intricate mechanically. The mid to late 30s had some electro-mechanical designs. The tough part can be sourcing missing parts and documentation to repair.

Yes, Documentation on these oldies is hard if not impossible to find. At least they aren't too complicated so just going through all the switches, connectors, steppers and a good cleaning gets them going. There will also probably be some crusty wiring and the selenium bridge to replace too. Pinball Resource is a good place to check and Steve isn't too hard on you because of the lack of documentation.

Back in those days, operators would run 'em, make their money then destroy them!

Go for it! They can be surprisingly fun to play!

Tully

I got my 1935 Jennings Sportsman with a box of internal parts. Someone had attempted to repair it but couldn't figure it all out.

I was able to find information online to bring it back to 100%. It took a lot of effort, but it was interesting to learn how everything worked and pretty sweet once it did.

Of course, no one was really interested in playing it so it's sitting back in my storage right now.

Todd

pinball4ever wrote: ↑Sun Mar 31, 2019 7:33 pm I got my 1935 Jennings Sportsman with a box of internal parts. Someone had attempted to repair it but couldn't figure it all out.

I was able to find information online to bring it back to 100%. It took a lot of effort, but it was interesting to learn how everything worked and pretty sweet once it did.

Of course, no one was really interested in playing it so it's sitting back in my storage right now.

Todd

Why would it be in storage? It’s the one Al Capone played in Chicago, right?

Thanks for the feedback guys. I am no stranger to EM repairs. I'm bringing 2 to MGC next weekend. I still haven't heard back from the friend of the family that wants me to look at it but if it works out, I'm going to tackle it.
It sounds like documentation and parts are the hardest to find. If I tear into this I'll give Steve a shout at PBR. I have called him a few times. Any other suggestions for resources if he can't help?